Sesame Street Blog

How Snuffy survived the “Sombrero Incident.”

By Martin P Robinson, 7/29/11 7:53 AM

Dear Marty,

I read in "40 Years of Life on the Street" about an incident involving Snuffy's puppet where a sombrero caused the wood frame to collapse on you and Bryant Young. Did they rebuild the puppet after that or did they just make a new one?

Edward

Yes, the "Sombrero Incident". A very heavy hat was built for Señor Snuffalupago, a relative of Snuffy's I was playing. Midway through a scene, the aluminum frame backpack I wear to support the beast gave way, dropping the entire character and puppeteers in a great heap. Luckily, no one was hurt. Within about twenty minutes, the shop had drilled and riveted the broken section allowing us to finish the show. When they had a proper amount of time, the Henson shop replaced the stressed backpack. Snuffy himself, twenty-five years later, is the same. Of course he gets maintained inside and out before each season, with special attention paid to all those lovely feathers worked in to his fur. After the sombrero incident, all hats and costume pieces were made much lighter.

Mail Box

Like your family we have twins, boy/girl, that turned three last month. I saw your blog entry for January and it looks like we have something in common, potty training twins. Like one of your girls, my son WILL NOT pee in the potty but his sister was doing well until she caught on to "Bubbie" not trying. I was just letting things run their course but our local pre-schools/mommy day out programs require the children to be potty trained and this mommy needs a day out. Bribery isn't working. Have you had any success?

I read in 40 Years of Life on the Street about an incident involving Snuffy's puppet where a sombrero caused the wood frame to collapse on you and Bryant Young. Did they rebuild the puppet after that or did they just make a new one?

I just wanted to say thanks for the blog. My daughter Kylie (who just turned two yesterday) loves to ask if we are going to see "the babies." Thank you so much to you and Marty for bringing the joy of Sesame Street into our lives every day.

I've noticed that there are fewer Muppets and people in an episode now than there were twenty years ago. Does everyone show up on the set for filming days or only certain ones? Who decides who gets to play the Anything Muppets? There are some voices I hear more than others.